Letter: Death penalty, abortion separate issues

Death penalty, abortion are separate issues

In most instances, the viewpoints of adults concerning abortion and the death penalty should be regarded as thoughtful and settled. I respect and honor the pro-life advocacy claimed by the letter writer and would not presume to change his mind.

I do wish, however, to acknowledge the other groups besides St. John’s who gather outside of St. John’s each time an execution is underway. In fact, the gatherings are organized by the People of Faith Against the Death Penalty (PFADP), a nonpartisan, nonprofit, interfaith organization whose mission is to educate and mobilize faith communities to act to abolish the death penalty in the United States. PFADP events are joined by individuals and representatives of communities of faith from across Lubbock.

St. John’s also participates with PFADP in keeping with the Social Principles of the larger United Methodist Church which believes the “death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore and transform all human beings” and urges “its elimination from all criminal codes (The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, Paragraph 164 G).”

Regarding the writer’s letter, I would also dispute the common but problematic conflation of “logic” related to the separate issues of abortion and capital punishment. The writer’s own support for capital punishment demonstrates “pro-life” logic does not necessarily extend to an “anti-death (penalty)” logic. Neither should “pro-choice” support for women’s rights be illogically paired with death penalty views.

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They are but two faces of the same coin. If human life in the womb is too sacred to destroy ---and it certainly is!--- then the human lives of those convicted of capital crimes are also too sacred to destroy. Capital punishment is just as wrong as abortion.

Killing is a trespass against nature, a violation of that spark which separates us from the animals. Killing tears the soul apart. Any veteran of any war can tell you that.

Physically, you can kill at need, ---indeed, sometimes you must!--- in defense of yourself, your loved ones, your country.

But you will never be the same afterward. You will be forever changed, diminished in spirit, from what you were before. You will pay an awful price, and for the rest of your life.

I say that whenever there is a way to avoid killing ---even of a convicted murderer!--- then that is the way to go. Give him life without chance of parole, safeguard society against him, but do not destroy his sacred human life.

I personally am pro choice and until recently have been pro death penalty. However, because of the corruption in our courts system and the refusal of senior state officials to intercede in cases that have obvious errors, I am leaning toward anti death penalty. Until the state cleans up the prosecutorial system, I cannot support innocent men and women being executed because of unscrupulous behavior of the prosecutors.

That which is not human cannot become human, either by attaining to a certain size or age, or surviving long enough to be born.

That which IS human, was ALWAYS human, from the first instant of its existence.

There is NO instant of fundamental change, which divides a disposable, "fetus" from a precious human infant. That is a fantasy perpetrated by those who whom personal convenience and instant gratification are of greater importance than ANY other factor.

I really like your first post. I actually agree with you that all human life is sacred. I know that I don't often agree with you but I do always respect your opinions. I don't view myself as reactionary, I just see human beings as very flawed creatures. Very silly and usually messing things up, myself included.

Every skin cell you shed, every hair you lose, every single toenail clipping contains your entire DNA. Does this mean that those things are alive, human, and should be protected at all cost, even at the expense of the person who carries them? The argument is silly.

The bottom line is that these questions deserve respect and effort. It is difficult and requires more thought that what you can fit on a match book (or in a forum post, for that matter.) Yet MAS insists on this:

"That is a fantasy perpetrated by those who whom personal convenience and instant gratification are of greater importance than ANY other factor."

Instead of acknowledging the difficulty of the subject, he goes straight for the "you're all corrupt" argument. That is called bad faith. I don't find it the least bit credible or elegant. It is a crude, one-dimensional, and frankly lazy argument.

Marcus Aemelius Scaurus there is great wisdom in your words. I could have not put it more succinctly than you just did ! As I have always stated this is not complicated one bit. It is a choice, but there are only 2 choices here. Life or Death.